By Wells Foster and Sarah Al-Shaikh
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Tonight, people strapped on their skates to raise money for a good cause.
Chelsea Paradise was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease 2 years ago. It’s a rare disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain, which can slow down someone’s thinking skills, and make it difficult to speak among other things.
“So there’s about 200,000 people that actually have it,” Chelsea said.
There is no cure, but Chelsea is trying to change that. Today her community came together to help her with that goal.
Chelsea held a fundraiser at Edru’s Skating Rink in Holt to spread awareness and raise money for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.
“We’re doing a raffle for baskets, and my sisters are actually going to give away part of their balloon bouquets. My grandma makes homemade quilts, and pillows and stuff so we’re gonna raffle those off too, and then we have t-shirts made,” Chelsea said.
She sold over 80 tickets to the skating rink. Chelsea said its money she hopes will go a long way in the fight against Huntington’s.
“Just that it helps us get a cure for this. For the trials cause there’s money that needs to go into create these trials and to get the medication that we need,” said Chelsea.
Joe Carter was someone who bought a ticket.
But Joe isn’t just your average skater; he’s a professional. He’s been skating at Edru for over 61 years, he said.
Tonight, he’s skating for Chelsea.
“I think we should all be trying to do as much good as we can while we can. So I think this is a great cause and I’m glad to be here,” Joe said.
Chelsea said her journey since being diagnosed has been life changing.
“It’s been hard, but then it’s been like a lot better because I’m living my life like so much more like I’m doing more I’m more proactive about stuff like it’s huge,” Chelsea said.
Why skating, though?
Chelsea has been skating since she was three.
“This is my comfort zone, this is where I come to like unwind and stuff just skatings my thing,” Chelsea said.
She said regardless of how much she raises tonight, she’ll skate away grateful.
“Every person that knows about this disease is another step towards finding a cure for it,” Chelsea said.